Gilbert, Arizona

In addition to the great financial dilem mas of the 1930s, Gilbert was flooded in 1931 and again in 1938 (photos, pp.79-81). It was generally accepted that the heavy rains that fell in those two years dropped so much moisture that the canals and the land could not absorb the rainwater. That was certainly true, but there was another theory proposed about the 1938 flood. East of the Gilbert farm area in the desert, the land was so saturated that the water just began rising and topped out at three feet or so above ground level. All this water naturally flowed west as the eleva tion decreases in this direction. As the water headed west, it ran into the base of the railroad track, which directed the water northwesterly right into downtown Gilbert. In the 1930s, Gilbert didn’t have flood control.

k The flood can’t stop Otto Neely from delivering the milk.

k Crossing street during flood

k Gilbert Lake?

k Water, water everywhere

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